Monitoring System for global Swine Diseases

With today's Land and Livestock Report I'm Susan Allen The Swine Health Information Center has funded a near real-time monitoring system for swine diseases around the world. Dr. Paul Sundburg leads the Swine Health Information Center and says this effort will deliver timely reporting of swine diseases...tape

The Swine Health Information Center was created with a one-time grant from the National Pork Board.

SUNDBURG: This is really an issue of lets learn lessons from past experiences. We knew that PED was circulating in China before it came to the US. We want to make sure we don't miss something else that's out there circulating in other areas of the world and leave us venerable. So we are working on this system of which we can monitor for new diseases or changes in diseases around the world to better prepare better harden and better protect the US Industry.

For more information, producers can contact the Pork Checkoff Service Center. Go to Pork-dot org or call 800-456-PORK.

And in a move that seems to bite the hand that feeds it, WSJ reports that Cargill is investing in a startup company that is developing a technology to grow meat from self-reproducing animal cells. This is the first time a traditional meat company has attempted to produce protein from sources other than traditional feedlots and slaughterhouses. Sonya Roberts head of growth ventures in Cargill's meat division cited it as simply another way to harvest meat. America's ranchers might feel differently towards the company moves towards cell-cultured meats.